I really can't decide how I feel about this, but, Margarita, I don't think oil was very good justification for sending our men in harm's way in the Gulf War, either, esp. when I drive throughout Wyoming and see all of the idle oilwells and read the whining of all of the oil people here who say they are losing money.

I guess it is important to remember that we really are becoming one world, our world is expanding, yet becoming smaller in distance from one another. What effects one part of the world does have a ripple effect on the rest of us, just as volcanic ash spewed forth from Mt. Pinatubo brought a chilly summer and much cloud cover around the world.

Education is the key, although at the moment it is a little too late. I don't think what has apparently happened with over one quarter of a million people displaced is justified, but if it came down to sending my son, like Don said, I just don't know.

Again, I don't think it comes down to Clinton alone, at all. He plays the game, as every President ever has, because to not do so would cause themselves and the self-perpetuating system great harm. Do I like that system? NO! It is cronyism, mafioso-type tactics, and political machinations at their worse, but I do not think we can blame it on whether that one person has good will in his heart or not. He does not act nor make these decisions alone.

America has a schizo collective persona. On one hand, we are gung-ho patriots, ready and willing to defend our freedom and democracy at all costs. On the other hand, when push comes to shove, as we learn more about a situation, esp. nowadays with the Internet, we question more and more, when our intellect takes charge instead of our emotions, and we may not be as blindingly willing to lay our lives or those of our children on the line.

It is as though we've always wanted to be the brash, yet benevolent big brother to every fledgling out there, and instead we act the neighbourhood bully. Still, there are no easy answers. This is the nature of the life we are given of free will and self-determination.

Then we wind up pondering the mysterious ways of the Universe: were the Jews, Gays, Gypsies, etc. fated to die because of past life conduct? When a bus in India wrecks and all are killed, was it karma or sheer chance which caused their demise? Is this the case in Kosovo? Do they owe a big spiritual debt or is their collective consciousness perpetuating a life of strife, anger, resentment and fear which must be acted out? And, if that is so, are we and other NATO members acting out an inevitable scenario given the collective consciouness of the world? Do we, as mature parents, put them in a room, so to speak and tell them to work it out and when that fails, go in and takeover? Should seeming innocents die in our efforts or as a consequence of the intransigence of their neighbors?

Sorry, maybe that is too esoteric, but I do think it is good to try to see the "big picture" and envision the long-range life of our planet, with her peoples or not.

katlaughing